As many on this blog know, I have long been a critic of our sprawling national debt and reckless budgets. I admit to being adverse to our long history of kicking the can down the road with new taxes and higher budgets. Well, we are about to push our kids further into debt with an obscene $1.3 trillion budget bill. The White House and Congress yielded to virtually every temptation in adding to our national debt at a time of tremendous economic uncertainties. We have added $1 trillion to our debt in just the last six months.

The 2,232-page tax bill is bursting with massive benefits for favorable projects, including huge increase in the military budget. Speaker Paul Ryan admitted “No bill of this size is perfect.” I would call a $1.3 trillion pretty far from perfect.

The national debt is now rising 36 percent faster than the economy. What trend will not end well as we watch other countries around the world thrown into political and social chaos from years of running away spending and debt accrual. We constantly speak of our love for our children and future generations but we are leaving them with crippling debt and government bonds held by foreign powers like China.

We start this trend when we abandoned the commitment to balancing budgets and found excuses for debt accrual on promises of increased productivity or economic expansion. Politicians are always quick to find a reason why they do not have to make difficult choices in favor of spending more and more money on a leveraged debt.

Even projects removed from the budget are expected to still be funded. For example, President Trump made a big deal about cutting the rail tunnel under the Hudson River – a priority of his political rival DemocraticSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. However, Schumer’s staff said that more than half of the $900 million is likely to still be secured this year.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul registered his frustration with a biting tweet: “It’s a good thing we have Republican control of Congress or the Democrats might bust the budget caps, fund planned parenthood and Obamacare, and sneak gun control without due process into an Omni … wait, what?”

Comment navigation

Trump doesn’t realize it but when he signed his political death warrant when he signed that indefensible monstrosity. He cannot be reelected without adding to his base and that move irrovocably alienated conservativr and libertarian leaning voters like me who couldn’t vote for him the first time but who may have considered it next time.
I am sure he assured a sweeping defeat in the mid terms and with it, his impeachment. I can easily see a conviction in the Senate. Although Democrats may vote to acquit as they now have their President in the White House.